Galleria Sabauda

Galleria Sabauda is an art gallery in Turin, located in the historical center of the city, near the Cathedral of San Giovanni Battista.

Galleria Sabauda is part of the complex of the Royal Museums of Turin (Musei Reali di Torino), and constitutes one of the most important pictorial collections in Italy.

SHORT HISTORY OF GALLERIA SABAUDA

Galleria Sabauda was born on October 2, 1832, at the behest of King Carlo Alberto I, to display hundreds of paintings collected over the centuries by the House of Savoy.

At first, the art gallery was named Reale Galleria (Royal Gallery), and was placed in the halls of Palazzo Madama.

The first director of the gallery was Roberto d’Azeglio, who in 1836 started the publication of the first catalog of the collection, which brought together 365 works from Palazzo Reale, Palazzo Carignano and from Palazzo Durazzo of Genoa.

In 1848, the Senate was briefly transferred to Palazzo Madama. In 1865, Galleria Sabauda was moved to the second floor of Palazzo dell’Accademia delle Scienze, which already housed the Egyptian Museum (Museo Egizio).

In the new building, the paintings were ordered chronological and by the pictorial school to which they belonged, with an important space dedicated to the Piedmontese painting of the 15th and 16th centuries.

In 1933, on the occasion of the centenary of the institution, the art gallery assumed the definitive name of Galleria Sabauda.

In the 1950s, under the care of the architect Piero Sanpaolesi and Superintendent Noemi Gabrielli, the museum was subjected to a complete redevelopment project. The project, despite a conflict between Sanpaolesi and Gabrielli, was considered one of the masterpieces of the post-war Italian museology.

Between the 1980s and 1990s, the gallery was at the center of continuous modification and rearrangement works, aimed to expand the number of works on display and to modify the visit itinerary based on the different collections.

In 1998, to adapt the gallery to the increasingly need for space, light and services, Galleria Sabauda was transferred to the Manica Nuova wing of Palazzo Reale (Royal Palace), a structure built between the 19th and 20th centuries by Emilio Stramucci.

Only in 2012, the ground floor was ready to welcome a part of the paintings. On December 4, 2014, in the presence of the Minister for Cultural Heritage and Activities Dario Franceschini, the inauguration of the new seat of Galleria Sabauda took place.

The gallery is now connected to the other Royal Museums of Turin, which include the Royal Palace, the Royal Armoury, the Archaeological Museum, the Royal Library and Palazzo Chiablese.

GALLERIA SABAUDA

The gallery preserves over 700 paintings ranging from the 13th to the 20th century.

Among the collections displayed in the gallery, particularly important are the Piedmontese authors, including Giovanni Martino Spanzotti, Macrino d’Alba, Gerolamo Giovenone, Bernardino Lanino, Il Moncalvo, Tanzio da Varallo, Gaudenzio Ferrari, and Defendente Ferrari.

Other names represented in the gallery are Beato Angelico, Duccio di Boninsegna, Piero del Pollaiolo, Andrea Mantegna, Bronzino, Filippino Lippi, Daniele da Volterra, Il Veronese, Tintoretto, Guercino, Orazio Gentileschi, Giambattista Tiepolo, Guido Reni, and Bernardo Bellotto.

Also, Galleria Sabauda exhibits works of art from the Flemish School, featuring names like Van Dyck, Rubens, Rembrandt, the Brueghels, Memling, and Van Eyck.

HOW TO GET TO GALLERIA SABAUDA

Galleria Sabauda is located about 1.3 kilometers away from the Porta Nuova railway station and about 2 kilometers away from the Porta Susa railway station.

The closest Metro station is Porta Nuova, on the Metro Line M1.

The closest tram and bus stop is Duomo – Musei Reali, located right in front of Galleria Sabauda, on the tram Lines 4 and 7, and the bus Lines 4 ROSSO, 11, 19, 27, 51, 57, and 92.